They were young when they met. They didn't hate each other at first glance, though she supposed they didn't really like each other either. Their parents were close, and so they were told to go play in the garden while the adults talked. This led to a discussion about games, which led to an argument about who should be the princess, which led to her storming off and announcing that she never wanted to see him again.
Three years passed. They were both eight, and her parents had decided to host a ball. His family was invited. He thought she looked pretty in her pink dress, though he would never admit it to anyone. She though he looked handsome in his black uniform, and she proceeded to tell all her friends about it, who mocked her. They danced one dance together, which ended with him stepped on her feet and her telling him that he was the worst dancer she had ever encountered.
Three more years passed, and they were both eleven. His parents were hosting the ball this time, in honor of a new something-or-other that neither of them cared much about. He thought she had very much grown prettier since they had last seen each other, and he asked her to dance. She teased him and asked if he would be stepping on her toes this time, to which he responded that he had been taking dancing lessons so that it would never happen again. She smiled, and they proceeded to dance together the whole night.
Over the course of the next four years, the two wrote each other constantly. They each considered the other their best friend, and looked forward to seeing each other again. When they were fifteen, he decided to go visit her, since their kingdoms were rather far apart. She came running in with two boys that he had never seen before, one black-haired and the other a ginger, and wanted them all to get along. She was ever more beautiful, and he couldn't bear the thought of sharing her. So he left in a hurry and didn't write for a while.
After that, he didn't see her again for two years. He knew, at this point, that there was nothing to be done. He was hopelessly in love. He, the Slytherin Prince, was hopelessly in love with the Gryffindor Princess, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. He bedded woman after woman, trying to get the thoughts of her out of his mind, but it was impossible.
She heard about his many lovers over the course of the two years. She was devastated, as she had once fancied herself to be in love with him. Their parents decided a wedding to join their two kingdoms was in order, and wouldn't she like it, since they had been best childhood friends. She knew it was best for the kingdom, so she agreed and then cried in her room for days.
He was ecstatic as the news of their impending marriage reached him. He knew this was his once chance to get her back, and he would be damned if he would let anyone stop him. Their engagement party was finally upon them, and he could not wait to see his beautiful bride-to-be. She looked radiantly happy when she walked into the ballroom, adorned in a beautiful pink dress much like the one she had been wearing at their first ball. She smiled at all the guests, and her smile turned cold when he approached her. He kissed her hand, and she told him she had to mingle with all the guests and accept their congratulations. She departed without another word.
He found her in her room that night, demanding to know what was going on and why on earth she wouldn't talk to him.
"You left me!" she shouted. "You left me, and you didn't write and you never visited and you slept with a different girl every night, and you expect everything to be the same as it was two years ago?" By now she was crying. "I waited for you. I thought I loved you. But I see now that you can't possibly love me, so I will-"
And with that, he claimed her lips with his in a way that she couldn't possibly have any doubts about his feelings.
"You—you-," she stammered.
"I love you," he replied. "And I'll have you, if you'll have me."
Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
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